The NuHart site on Dupont St. and Franklin St. in Greenpoint has been getting a lot of attention recently. The property owner, Dupont Street Developers, LLC has completed the Remedial Investigation phase of the New York State Superfund process– this sets the stage for the cleanup which the owner will propose for the site in the next phase (the Feasibility Study).

On this past Saturday, Dupont Street Developers allowed a huge party to be planned at the NuHart property. Over 4,000 tickets were sold for the event. Residents and area officials learned of the event only upon viewing the setup for the party, which included people entering into the contaminated portions of the property. This is a site which contains toxic plumes containing 40,000-60,000 gallons of phthalates and trichloroethylene (TCE), both of which have migrated offsite. That party wound up being cancelled by the FDNY for failure to have proper fire safety systems in place.

Tonight, we held a meeting with the community environmental consultant, Environmental Stewardship Concepts, LLC (ESC), Council Member Stephen Levin, representatives from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, the NYS Department of Health, the NYC Office of Environmental Remediation, Roux Associates (the environmental consultant for the property owner), and the representative for the property owner.

We’d been planning this meeting for months, and the main focus of the meeting was the general progress of the Superfund process. We did address the extremely irresponsible decision of Dupont Street Developers to allow a massive party to be planned on a contaminated Superfund site. At the meeting, community members demanded answers and future responsibility from the property owner. We’re still looking in to the details of who was involved in approving the party, but we did get ahold of the permit applications and approvals from the NYS Liquor Authority and the NYC Department of Buildings.

Stay informed! The property owner is anticipated to release the Feasibility Study before the end of 2015, and then the NYS DEC will review and release a Proposed Remedial Action Plan (PRAP). When the PRAP is released by the DEC, the public comment period begins. After the DEC reviews the public comments, the DEC will issue a final cleanup plan. The community’s participation is essential in shaping a responsible cleanup!